Buckle device

ABSTRACT

A buckle device includes a female buckle member having a chamber for pivotally attaching two pawls with pivot pins, the pawls each has a depression and a projection formed in an inner surface, a male buckle member includes a tong for engaging into the chamber of the female buckle member and for engaging with the pawls, the tong includes two side surfaces each having a protrusion and a void for engaging into the depressions and the projections of the pawls and for increasing the contact area between the tong and the pawls and for solidly anchoring the tong to the female buckle member, and for sustaining a great pulling or towing force and for attaching to the facilities that require to sustain a great pulling or towing force, such as parachutes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a buckle device, and more particularlyto a buckle device including an improved structure for sustaining anincreased pulling or towing force and for attaching to the facilitiesthat require to sustain a great pulling or towing force, such asparachutes or the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Typical buckle devices comprise a female part and a male part includingtwo tabs for engaging into the female part and for detachably anchoringor latching the female part and the male part together and forreleasably attaching onto various portions of the wearers.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,826 to Gould discloses one of thetypical safety side-release belt buckles comprising a male part with aresilient member, and a female part with a cavity for releasablysecuring the resilient member, and for allowing the female part and themale part to be selectively separated from each other by depressing thetabs.

However, the tabs may be depressed or actuated inadvertently and thefemale part and the male part may also be separated from each otherinadvertently such that the typical safety side-release belt buckles maynot be attached to the facilities that require to sustain a greatpulling or towing force, such as parachutes or the like and that requirea great safety.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,590 to Lan discloses another typical safety bucklealso comprising a male buckle member and a female buckle memberdetachably fastened together, and the male buckle member includes twoside blocks for engaging with side grooves of the female buckle memberand for releasably or detachably securing or coupling the male bucklemember and the female buckle member together.

However, the typical safety buckle may not be easily operated by theusers due to the shielded tabs, and the typical safety buckle may notsustain a great pulling or towing force and also may not be attached tothe facilities that require to sustain a great pulling or towing force,such as parachutes or the like and that require a great safety.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,830 to Chi discloses a further typical safety buckleor fastening device comprising a male fastener with engaging sectionsand a female fastener with resilient legs for releasably securing themale fastener and the female fastener together.

However, similarly, the engaging sections of the typical safety bucklemay be depressed or actuated inadvertently and the female part and themale part may also be separated from each other inadvertently such thatthe typical safety side-release belt buckles may not be attached to thefacilities that require to sustain a great pulling or towing force, suchas parachutes or the like and that require a great safety.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,406 to Chui discloses a still further typical safetybuckle comprising a male plug and a female receptacle detachablyfastened together, and the male plug includes two flexible arms forengaging with side arcuate openings of the female receptacle and forreleasably securing the male plug and the female receptacle together.

However, similarly, the flexible arms of the typical safety buckle mayalso be depressed or actuated inadvertently and the female receptacleand the male plug may also be separated from each other inadvertentlysuch that the typical safety buckles also may not be attached to thefacilities that require to sustain a great pulling or towing force, suchas parachutes or the like and that require a great safety.

The typical buckle devices may not sustain a pulling or towing force formore than 700 kgf.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate theafore-described disadvantages of the conventional latches for buckledevices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a buckledevice including an improved structure for sustaining an increasedpulling or towing force and for attaching to the facilities that requireto sustain a great pulling or towing force, such as parachutes or thelike.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided abuckle device comprising a female buckle member including a chamberformed therein, two pawls engaged into the chamber of the female bucklemember and pivotally attached to the female buckle member with pivotpins respectively, the pawls each including an inner surface having adepression and a projection formed therein, a male buckle memberincluding a tong extended therefrom for engaging into the chamber of thefemale buckle member and for engaging with the pawls respectively, thetong including two side surfaces each having a protrusion extendedtherefrom for selectively engaging into the depressions of the pawls,and including a void formed in each of the side surfaces for selectivelyengaging with the projections of the pawls and for anchoring the tong ofthe male buckle member to the female buckle member, and a biasing devicefor biasing the depressions and the projections of the pawls to engagewith the projections and the voids of the tong and to solidly fasten thetong of the male buckle member to the female buckle member, and to allowthe buckle device to have an improved structure for sustaining anincreased pulling or towing force and for attaching to the facilitiesthat require to sustain a great pulling or towing force, such asparachutes or the like.

The tong includes two catches formed in the side surfaces respectivelyfor selectively engaging with the projections of the pawls and forsolidly fastening the tong of the male buckle member to the femalebuckle member, and for preventing the tong of the male buckle memberfrom being disengaged from the female buckle member inadvertently.

The pawls each include a recess formed therein, and the biasing deviceincludes two spring members engaged with the recesses of the pawls andengaged with the female buckle member for biasing the pawls to engagewith the tong.

The female buckle member includes two side legs for forming the chamberof the female buckle member, and includes a cavity formed in each of theside legs for engaging with the spring members and for solidly retainingthe spring members between the female buckle member and the pawls.

The female buckle member includes an intermediate plate disposed betweentwo outer plates, and the side legs and the chamber of the female bucklemember are formed in the intermediate plate. The intermediate plate andthe outer plates each include a groove formed therein and aligned witheach other for engaging with a strap member.

The male buckle member includes an intermediate panel disposed betweentwo outer panels, and the tong is extended from the intermediate panel.The intermediate panel and the outer panels each include a groove formedtherein and aligned with each other for engaging with a strap member.

Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a careful reading of the detailed description providedhereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a buckle device in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan schematic view of the buckle device in which aportion of the female buckle member has been cut off or removed forshowing an inner structure of the buckle device, and for illustratingthe operation of the buckle device; and

FIG. 3 is a top plan schematic view similar to FIG. 2, illustrating theoperation of the buckle device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a buckledevice 1 in accordance with the present invention comprises a femalebuckle member 20 and a male buckle member 50 to be detachably orreleasably fastened together, and arranged for allowing the male bucklemember 50 and the female buckle member 20 to be solidly and stablyfastened or coupled or secured together and to sustain a great pullingor towing force and for allowing the male buckle member 50 and thefemale buckle member 20 to be attached to the facilities that require tosustain a great pulling or towing force, such as parachutes or the likeand that require a great safety.

The female buckle member 20 includes a middle or intermediate plate 21disposed or sandwiched between two outer plates 22, 23 and to be securedtogether with such as fasteners 80, and the plates 21, 22, 23 eachinclude a groove 24 formed therein and aligned with each other forengaging with a belt or strap member (not shown), the intermediate plate21 includes a notch or chamber 25 formed therein and formed between twoside legs 26, and an outer inclined surface 27 and a cavity 28 formed ineach of the side legs 26, in which the cavities 28 of the side legs 26are facing toward and communicating with the chamber 25 of theintermediate plate 21.

Two pawls 30 are partially engaged into the chamber 25 of theintermediate plate 21 or of the female buckle member 20 and rotatably orpivotally attached or coupled or secured to the female buckle member 20and between the outer plates 22, 23 with pivot pins 31 respectively forallowing the pawls 30 to be rotated or pivoted relative to the femalebuckle member 20, the pawls 30 each include a depression 32 formed in aninner surface 33 thereof for forming a projection 34 in an inner portion35 thereof, and each include a recess 36 formed therein and locateddistal to or opposite to the depression 32 and/or the projection 34thereof for receiving or engaging with spring biasing means or springmembers 29 which may bias or force the depressions 32 and/or theprojections 34 and/or the inner surfaces 33 of the pawls 30 toward eachother, and each include a hand grip or knob 37 formed in the outerportion 38 thereof for being actuated or operated or depressed by theusers against the spring members 29.

The male buckle member 50 may also include a middle or intermediatepanel 51 disposed or sandwiched between two outer panels 52 and to besecured together with such as fasteners 53, and the panels 21, 22, 23each include a groove 54 formed therein and aligned with each other forengaging with a belt or strap member (not shown), and a rod 88 engagedor straddled in the groove 54 of the male buckle member 50 for furtherengaging with the belt or strap member. The male buckle member 50includes a tong 55 extended outwardly therefrom, such as extendedoutwardly from the intermediate panel 21 for engaging into the chamber25 of the female buckle member 20 and for engaging with the pawls 30respectively.

The tong 55 includes two outer and inclined side surfaces 56 forengaging with or for mating with the inner surfaces 33 of the pawls 30respectively (FIG. 2), and includes a protrusion 57 extended outwardlyfrom each of the side surfaces 56 for selectively engaging into thedepressions 32 of the pawls 30, and includes a void 58 and/or a catch 59formed in each of the side surfaces 56 for selectively engaging with theprojections 34 of the pawls 30, and thus for solidly and stably fastenor couple or secure the tong 55 of the male buckle member 50 to thefemale buckle member 20, and the projections 34 and/or the innersurfaces 33 of the pawls 30 may be selectively disengaged from the tong55 of the male buckle member 50 by actuating or operating or depressingthe knobs 37 of the pawls 30 toward each other and/or against the springmembers 29 (FIG. 3).

It is to be noted that, as shown in FIG. 2, the formation and theprovision or the engagement of the projections 34 of the pawls 30 withthe voids 58 of the tong 55, and the formation and the provision or theengagement of the protrusions 57 of the tong 55 with the depressions 32of the pawls 30 may increase the contact area between the tong 55 andthe pawls 30, for allowing the buckle device 1 to sustain a pulling ortowing force for more than 1000 kgf, and thus for allowing the buckledevice 1 to be attached or mounted to the facilities that require tosustain a great pulling or towing force, such as parachutes or the like.

In addition, as also shown in FIG. 2, the catches 59 of the tong 55 mayalso be solidly engaged with the projections 34 and/or the inner portion35 of the pawls 30 for solidly and stably fastening or anchoring orsecuring the tong 55 of the male buckle member 50 to the female bucklemember 20, and for preventing the tong 55 of the male buckle member 50from being disengaged from the female buckle member 20 inadvertently.The outer inclined surfaces 27 of the side legs 26 of the female bucklemember 20 may be selectively engaged with the pawls 30 for limiting thepawls 30 to rotate relative to the female buckle member 20.

Accordingly, the buckle device in accordance with the present inventionincludes an improved structure for sustaining an increased pulling ortowing force and for attaching to the facilities that require to sustaina great pulling or towing force, such as parachutes or the like.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure hasbeen made by way of example only and that numerous changes in thedetailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as hereinafter claimed.

1. A buckle device comprising: a female buckle member including achamber formed therein, two pawls engaged into said chamber of saidfemale buckle member and pivotally attached to said female buckle memberwith pivot pins respectively, said pawls each including an inner surfacehaving a depression and a projection formed therein, a male bucklemember including a tong extended therefrom for engaging into saidchamber of said female buckle member and for engaging with said pawlsrespectively, said tong including two side surfaces each having aprotrusion extended therefrom for selectively engaging into saiddepressions of said pawls, and including a void formed in each of saidside surfaces for selectively engaging with said projections of saidpawls and for anchoring said tong of said male buckle member to saidfemale buckle member, and means for biasing said depressions and saidprojections of said pawls to engage with said projections and said voidsof said tong and to fasten said tong of said male buckle member to saidfemale buckle member.
 2. The buckle device as claimed in claim 1,wherein said tong includes two catches formed in said side surfacesrespectively for selectively engaging with said projections of saidpawls and for solidly fastening said tong of said male buckle member tosaid female buckle member.
 3. The buckle device as claimed in claim 1,wherein said pawls each include a recess formed therein, and saidbiasing means includes two spring members engaged with said recesses ofsaid pawls and engaged with said female buckle member for biasing saidpawls to engage with said tong.
 4. The buckle device as claimed in claim3, wherein said female buckle member includes two side legs for formingsaid chamber of said female buckle member, and includes a cavity formedin each of said side legs for engaging with said spring members.
 5. Thebuckle device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said female buckle memberincludes an intermediate plate disposed between two outer plates, andsaid side legs and said chamber of said female buckle member are formedin said intermediate plate.
 6. The buckle device as claimed in claim 5,wherein said intermediate plate and said outer plates each include agroove formed therein and aligned with each other.
 7. The buckle deviceas claimed in claim 1, wherein said male buckle member includes anintermediate panel disposed between two outer panels, and said tong isextended from said intermediate panel.
 8. The buckle device as claimedin claim 7, wherein said intermediate panel and said outer panels eachinclude a groove formed therein and aligned with each other.